Why Neil?

"We knew about failure. We recognized failure. We knew it was there, we always looked for it. Everything we did was based on decisions on failure rather than success." ... "We grew up telling each other we were making mistakes when we made them. And that is how we learned."

- Chris Kraft.

"There is a time to be conservative and a time to be bold. And judgement, good judgement, tells you when to be what."

- Max Faget.

"The guy was really cool - cool, calm and energized. Neil was at his peak when he was operating at his peak. He was never in a frantic mode, but he was quick. I was very comfortable with him, not that I could predict everything he was going to say or decide. I think you had to work with him to understand him. He could make an analysis of a problem very quickly."

- Dave Scott.

"I wasn't chosen to be the first. I was just chosen to command that flight. Circumstance put me in that particular role." ... "I just don't deserve it."

- Neil Armstrong.

Vale: Neil Armstrong.

One day, when I was six years old, the entire school was herded into a large room where we sat and watched grainy images on a regular sized TV as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface for the very first time. It's still one of the few memories I have from that particular school. It was cool and exciting to think that man had walked on the moon.

From all accounts, Neil was a nerdy engineer who was calm and logical. A quiet, private gentleman who wanted none of the hoopla that surrounded the event. (Apparently that was the main reason he was selected over Buzz Aldrin to be first.)

A couple of years ago I read a wonderful book about the twelve astronauts who'd been on the moon. Moondust, by Andrew Smith, looks at the men, and how their lives were affected by having walked on the moon. Lyrical and poetic and engaging, I still highly recommend the book.

Armstrong, reclusive and private, rarely gave interviews or spoke to the media. For this book, however, he consented and spoke with the author.

In a moment of unusual frankness, Neil Armstrong once recalled standing on the Moon and noticing he could blot out the Earth with his thumb. Did that make him feel really big, he was asked? 'No,' the great astronaut replied. 'It made me feel really, really small.'

We haven't been back to the moon since 1972. As Smith says:

'Of over 400 people who have now into space, only 27 have ever left Earth orbit and seen her from the perspective of Deep Space - all American and all between the Christmases of 1968 and 1972.'

And only twelve have walked on it. Perhaps it's time we went back. With current technology, and people on the surface, one can only imagine the possibilities.

As for Neil, he's now taken a bigger step into the unknown. Have a safe journey. Thank you for the inspiration and dreams.

We're Still Waiting...

Surprise, surprise.

Give Harrison Ford an award for stating the bleeding obvious.

I read an article today where Harrison stated that he still loved acting, but the reason he hasn't done much movie-wise in the past decade is because Hollywood is "bereft" of ideas.

(A great word, bereft.  I first learned it in high school when I wrote a short story - the only one my teacher ever liked - and I tried using literary reference and a simile in the opening paragraph. I described stems of wheat as ranks of soldiers stripped of their stripes, and my teacher crossed out stripped and wrote "bereft".)

Anyway, I don't know whether this is something new Mr. Ford has stumbled upon, or whether he's just finally worked up the nerve to announce it, but my friends and I have been saying this for a very long time. The movies I've enjoyed the most over the past few years have been the lower budget, almost indie movies. The Hollywood blockbuster with the predictable "awwwww" ending, or the really unfunny comedy, or the unfunny because it's crass comedy, or the Sci-Fi that relies on special effects and CGI, or the action film that counts deaths or explosions as a number per minute, or the screen adaptation of cartoon/childhood favourite sitcom/old franchise remake, or anything with Will Ferrell/Nick Cage/Steve Carrell/Nicole Kidman just don't do it for me. (Nick just can't act, Nic just can't emote anymore - and Steve and Will are definitely unfunny!)

Speaking of which, I went to see Avatar. Talk about a hyped over-rated film. It's OK - just OK.  I enjoyed it for what it was, but it was very lightweight, Sure, I saw it in 3D, and was blown away by the beauty of the images and it's 3Dness, but if I'd seen it in 2D I'd have been real disappointed. The Lion King meets Dances with Wolves. Sigourney Weaver's character starts as a hard-ass caricature (demanding cigarettes etc) that softens real quick without any real reason, the military guy is like every comic book soldier you've ever seen, the science guys are every nerd's nightmare, and the company man is the bean-counter from every film made.

The next day I went to see Up in the Air.  And it was a much better film.  And just when I thought it was heading for the predictable Hollywood ending, it didn't.  Thanks.

So I'm still waiting for some decent Sci-Fi. My friend agreed with me, but said he'll continue to support these films because hopefully it'll lead to an increase in Sci-Fi films.

Or are we sending the wrong message and telling them these thin SF films are acceptable. For my money, Moon is the best SF film I've seen in the past few years.